I'd rather take the gamble. With the Dell U2711 being priced on sale at $700, and the Apple Cinema Display at $1000, you could buy this monitor twice, or three times.

Sure you can bring in the warranty aspect, but I'm optimistic that my Catleap will last at least 3 years if I don't leave it on 24/7. I have only ever first hand seen LCDs fizzle out after being on 24/7 for many many many years (old IBM 18" LCD with no screen savers set @ work), or physical abuse in laptops breaking the backlight.

People's "return" has been quite good since the initial discover back in January, and most people ask enough questions to know of the risks involved with buying a non CSA/UL/ASA certified monitor, with little to no extended warranty or support.

LED's aren't as likely as CCFL's to burn out over time. There have been a few PSU casualties due to out of spec ratings (190V-240V) but replacements are readily available on eBay. Most of the reputable sellers will exchange if the panel has obvious defects out of the box or is DOA, no money out of pocket for the buyer.

As for panels or PCBs themselves spontaneously failing, I haven't seen any reports of that happening... mostly just people damaging the thin fragile cables due to careless disassembly, or frying the board by using screws too long for the VESA mount.

Its an interesting thought...but not at 4 bills. IF it was 3 bills....yeah OK risk vs reward would come into the equation. BUT at 4+ its not a great deal to me. Im a firm beleiver in "buy once, cry once" and spend more upfront but LESS over the long haul than going cheapo upfront. Give it 3 years and let OTHER peeps PAY for the privilege of being guinea pigs.

YMMV but there is no way this is comparable to a Apple display or even a Dell U27. Its a cheap monitor and I bet the internals are cheap w/ every corner possible cut.

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This 27" Samsung (275T+) was about $800 in 2008 when I got it. As I hate glaringing bright screens (and this one ould blind you after 3 minutes turned all the way up) I have the backlighting turned as low as it will go and still get proper colours and contrast. It's never given me a moment's problems and has had no dead or stuck pixels. I just with it was 30"@2560x1600 :)

I find it hard to imagine comparable quality at <$500 given how much costs/prices have risen in the last 4 years.

Its an interesting thought...but not at 4 bills. IF it was 3 bills....yeah OK risk vs reward would come into the equation. BUT at 4+ its not a great deal to me. Im a firm beleiver in "buy once, cry once" and spend more upfront but LESS over the long haul than going cheapo upfront. Give it 3 years and let OTHER peeps PAY for the privilege of being guinea pigs.

YMMV but there is no way this is comparable to a Apple display or even a Dell U27. Its a cheap monitor and I bet the internals are cheap w/ every corner possible cut.

I'm going to wait on reviews and such, but if these turn out to be decent(and we can get them in Canada) I'll likely take the chance on one. I know a few people that have bought the Shimian and Catleap monitors and they have had no problems, one has had his Catleap for about 6 months without any issues. As far as longevity goes I usually upgrade every 2-3 years so if i can get 3 years trouble free from one of these I'd be cool with that.